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An owner of an aquarium store avoided jail despite pleading guilty to one count of cruelty to an animal. He had repeatedly thrown a bag containing a live fish on the ground, claiming he was displaying the bag’s shock absorbing ability.

Hui Kwok-yu, 29, was slapped with a six-week jail sentence, suspended for one year, meaning that he will still have to serve the term if he commits any other offence within the coming 12 months.

The owner of the now defunct Dragon Aquarium earlier pleaded guilty to one count of cruelty to an animal, which took place in January.

The incident happened in a building on Tong Choi Street in Mong Kok, an area famous for its numerous marine pet shops and displays of aquarium specimens from fish to turtles.

During his trial at Eastern Court, Hui had suggested that the silver arowana he tortured was for human consumption.

But prosecutors, classifying the fish as an aquarium pet, rebutted his claim on Friday after consulting the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.